Out of all the electrical poles that line Oakley Street in Santa Maria, there is one near the corner of Main Street that is different from the rest. Several candles, bundles of red roses, white balloons with messages written on them, and half-empty bottles of Miller Lite are strewn at its base, along with rosaries […]
Violence on the street: Family of double homicide victims deny any gang association
Posted inNews
Santa Barbara County students set to visit Author-Go-Round
Each day, approximately 130 students will have an opportunity to listen to four presentations and then spend 15 minutes asking questions and interacting with the authors while seated on carpets in small groups. At a music signal, they will rotate on to the next author. Participating authors and illustrators include James Burks, Sara Louise Kras, […]
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Amy Lopez joins Santa Maria high school board
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Board of Education provisionally appointed Amy Lopez to the board at its Jan. 12 meeting. Lopez, a mental health advocate who has dedicated her career to public service will fill the seat vacated by Victor Tognazzini, who was elected in 2004 and retired on Dec. 31, 2015, […]
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Political Watch 1/21/2016
• Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) has introduced a bill to set comprehensive limits around the use of drones near critical infrastructure such as bridges and power plants as well as in state parks and wildlife refuges, on private property, and around the State Capitol. Senate Bill 868, is partly modeled on legislation recently enacted […]
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Community Notebook 1/21/16 – 1/28/16
MONDAY, JAN. 25 • The Solvang City Council has its regular meeting at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1644 Oak Street, Solvang. agendas are available at cityofsolvang.com. TUESDAY, JAN. 26 • The Guadalupe City Council has its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 918 Obispo St., Guadalupe. […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s your favorite local getaway?
Jennifer Ward high school special education instructional assistant “We like to go to Sunny Fields Park in Solvang. It’s a wooden castle play structure.” Chris Martino health and safety manager “Cottonwood Winery in Santa Maria.” Katelyn Bromm waitress at Applebee’s “Avila Valley Barn.” Christopher Bromm Air Force instructor “Solvang, just the general area.”
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Hobnobbing with Helen
It was raining cats and dogs on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and at 1 p.m., I seriously considered calling Minerva Club President (aka information central) Angie Engelbrecht to check if the scheduled program, The Art of the Tea, was still on for 2 p.m. Would anyone turn out in the dicey weather for a Minerva Club […]
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EPA report echoes local beekeeper concerns over pesticides’ role in colony collapse
Kate Griffith’s honeybee colony functioned as they all do: with near-impossible efficiency, as thousands of bees performed individually assigned tasks to keep the hive running smoothly. Her colony’s queen produced eggs, the male drones ensured those eggs were fertilized, and the female workers took care of the rest: foraging for nectar and pollen, keeping things […]
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CHP releases name of driver killed in Highway 154 crash
The California Highway Patrol released the name of the driver who died after his 2006 Ford Ranger hit a Chumash Casino Resort passenger bus on Jan. 18. The CHP released the name of Simon Ruiz of Norwalk, Calif., after alerting his next of kin after the Santa Barbara County coroner identified the body. He was […]
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch: More than an explosion
SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket the morning of Jan. 17 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, earning viral online popularity thanks to video footage of the rocket’s landing-turned-explosion. But what the “boom” doesn’t show is the mission’s success: SpaceX’s rocket launched the Jason-3 satellite into orbit, thus continuing the Ocean Surface Topography Mission begun in […]
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New bill faces drone users with potential restrictions
Last year, the Sun reported on local controversy surrounding drone use, and how Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson intended to limit drone operation on private property. Jackson’s march for drone control took a stumble in September when Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 142, which would have created a “no fly zone” over private property from […]
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Land of Plenty: The food-savvy co-founders of Edible magazine prepare to launch a restaurant in Los Alamos
The creative entrepreneurs behind Edible Communities Inc., America’s largest publishing company dedicated to the local-foods movement, are writing a new chapter of their lives, in a rather unlikely place: the once-sleepy Santa Barbara County town of Los Alamos. Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian co-founded the first Edible magazine 14 years ago while living in Ojai, […]